What’s Strong: Cultivating Strengths Beyond Desistance
Over the past decades, desistance has increasingly been understood not as a singular event of permanent cessation of offending, but as a gradual, non‑linear process involving shifts in behavior, identity, and social relationships (Bushway & Paternoster, 2013). Early work tended to focus primarily on whether people reoffended or not, whereas contemporary perspectives distinguish between primary desistance (temporary abstinence from offending), secondary desistance (a shift in self‑identity toward a non‑offending self), and tertiary desistance (societal recognition and acceptance of that change; Maruna, 2001). Despite being able to achieve periods of crime-free behavior, it is common for justice‑involved youths to retain a negative self-perception shaped by disrupted schooling and repeated experiences of frustration throughout their development, as well as the loss of past friendship, social status, and recognition after incarceration.
Research on desistance pathways has found that incarceration can serve as a life turning point (HKCSD, 2025). We believe strength‑based approaches complement risk‑focused programmes within institutions by facilitating the transformation from an old, negative, criminal self-identity to a new, positive, prosocial one in justice-involved youths, empowering them towards personal growth in addition to reducing recidivism. This article introduces our new initiative pioneered at Sha Tsui Correctional Institution (STCI): “MindSport” Programme, which integrates Character Strength Intervention (CSI) with bodyweight training, fostering more hopeful, prosocial identities among young male persons-in-custody (PICs).
Why Strengths and Sport for Justice‑Involved Youths?
CSI, an evidence- and strength-based approach widely adopted in schools, workplaces, and clinical populations, conceptualizes character strengths as positive traits that are central to identity and linked to well‑being, resilience, and prosocial behaviour (Niemiec, 2018). It promotes awareness and use of positive traits, facilitating identity exploration and shaping. Studies with adolescents suggest that strengths‑based programmes can enhance self‑efficacy, hope, and emotional well‑being, and that specific strengths such as perseverance, self‑regulation, and leadership are associated with fewer behaviour problems and greater prosocial action (Schutte & Malouff, 2019; Peterson & Seligman, 2004). By repeatedly experiencing oneself as kind, perseverant, or curious in structured activities, young people accumulate evidence of a prosocial self that gradually becomes more central to their identity (Niemiec, 2018).
Sports‑based programmes with incarcerated or formerly incarcerated individuals have been linked to improved behaviour, stronger social bonds, and the construction of more positive social identities, which in turn relate to psychological need, satisfaction and well‑being (Newson et al., 2024). From clinical interviews, many of our young male PICs were observed to be concerned about body build and expressed interest in muscle training.
The “MindSport” Programme has been developed at this intersection of CSI and sport. By integrating CSI with bodyweight training, it does not only make the strength-based intervention more youth-responsive but also uses the physical training environment as a live laboratory for spotting and enacting strengths, receiving feedback from others, and linking those experiences to a more hopeful, prosocial sense of self. The embodied, relational nature of sport can make abstract strengths such as perseverance, teamwork, and self‑control visible and experientially real.
A particular consideration in our Hong Kong context is the influence of Chinese cultural norms on self-expression and self-perception. Chinese cultural values tend to emphasize modesty and restraint in self-appraisal, and praise is often used sparingly in parenting and education. In our clinical observations, many young PICs felt embarrassed or uncomfortable when asked to articulate their positive traits and frequently struggled to identify their own character strengths without structured guidance. These cultural dynamics make self-directed strengths identification particularly challenging for this population and further reinforce the value of a structured programme like “MindSport” Programme, which scaffolds strengths recognition through psychoeducation, experiential exercises, and affirmation from multiple external perspectives.
The “MindSport” Programme in Practice
“MindSport” Programme is delivered to groups of six young male PICs. The programme weaves together three complementary modes of delivery: psychoeducation group sessions, group bodyweight training sessions, and individual sessions by a clinical psychologist.
Two psychoeducation sessions, delivered by a trained correctional officer under the clinical psychologist’s supervision, introduce participants to the rationale of the programme, the concept of character strengths, the Values in Action (VIA) framework, and how strengths operate in everyday life. Participants complete the VIA Survey, a scientifically validated strengths assessment that measures one’s 24 core character strengths, to identify their signature strengths.
Four bodyweight training sessions, facilitated by a sports coach from a partnered non-governmental organization, form the active core of the programme. The sports component serves as an experiential and engaging platform for character strengths in action. In addition to learning and practising essential bodyweight exercises, participants are instructed to perform collaborative exercises in pairs and to monitor partner’s postures. They are guided to notice and name the strengths they draw upon during training, for example, perseverance when completing a challenging set, teamwork when supporting a peer, or bravery when attempting a new exercise.
Before, during, and after the programme, each participant meets individually with clinical psychologist. These individual sessions provide a more personal and in‑depth space to explore each young person’s unique strengths profile, reflect on how their strengths were utilized in the training sessions, and consider how strengths can guide their goals and self‑narrative going forward. Psychologist‑facilitated reflection links past personal achievements and obstacles they have overcome as well as in‑the‑moment experiences in the training sessions to each participant’s broader identity narratives, grounding abstract strength concepts in their own lived experience and reinforcing the emerging sense of themselves as capable, determined, and prosocial individuals.
Apart from raising young PICs’ awareness of their own character strengths, observations are gathered from multiple perspectives and shared with the participants. The clinical psychologist, the correctional officer, the social worker, fellow participants, and parents each independently identify the signature strengths they observe in every participant. This multi‑perspective approach, called Character Strengths 360, broadens young PICs’ self‑awareness and challenges the negative self‑images they have often internalized, offering them new, affirming evidence of who they are and who they can become.
Promising Preliminary Outcomes
Preliminary data were collected over two years from 64 young male PICs who participated in the “MindSport” Programme. Pre- and post-programme questionnaires measuring self-efficacy, well-being, and hope were administered.
Paired-samples t-tests revealed statistically significant improvements across all four measures following programme completion (see Table 1). Well-being, assessed by the World Health Organization Five Well-Being Index (WHO-5), showed the most notable improvement, rising from M = 52.56 (SD = 21.46) to M = 61.75 (SD = 19.98), t(63) = 3.92, p < .001, d = 0.49, indicating a medium effect size. Hope, measured by the Adult Hope Scale (AHS) and the Children’s Hope Scale (CHS), also demonstrated significant gains that reached medium effect sizes. The improvement in self-efficacy, as measured by the General Self-Efficacy Scale (GSES-CS), reflected a small-to-medium effect. Overall, effect sizes ranged from small-to-medium to medium (d = 0.34–0.52), suggesting that the observed improvements are not only statistically significant but also of meaningful practical magnitude.
Table 1
Pre- and Post-Programme Scores on Outcome Measures
| Measure | N/n | T1 M (SD) | T2 M (SD) | Mean diff | t | p | d |
| WHO-5 | 64 | 52.56 (21.46) | 61.75 (19.98) | 9.19 | 3.92 | < .001 | 0.49 |
| GSES-CS | 64 | 27.44 (5.14) | 29.30 (4.83) | 1.86 | 2.71 | .009 | 0.34 |
| AHS | 46 | 22.67 (3.47) | 23.85 (3.57) | 1.17 | 2.45 | .018 | 0.36 |
| CHS | 18 | 23.00 (4.41) | 26.00 (4.65) | 3.00 | 2.23 | .040 | 0.52 |
Note. GSES-CS = General Self-Efficacy Scale (Chinese Short version); WHO-5 = World Health Organization Five Well-Being Index; AHS = Adult Hope Scale; CHS = Children’s Hope Scale. d = Cohen’s d effect size.
In sum, participation in the “MindSport” Programme, a strength-based, sport-integrated intervention, was associated with greater confidence in one’s capacity to act, a stronger sense of hope for the future, and enhanced overall well‑being. Gains in these domains carry meaningful implications for the desistance process. Self‑efficacy and hope, for instance, are closely aligned with the sense of personal agency and future orientation that desistance theorists associate with the transition toward a prosocial identity, leading to sustained, long-term change (Maruna, 2001).
Additionally, analysis of VIA Survey results revealed that the most commonly identified signature strengths among the young male PICs were Kindness (44.4%), Hope (38.1%), Humor (34.9%), Appreciation of Beauty and Excellence (31.7%), and Curiosity (31.7%). These findings are clinically noteworthy that strengths such as Kindness and Hope reflect prosocial orientations and a forward-looking disposition that are often absent from the self-narratives of justice-involved youth. Their emergence as dominant signature strengths across the sample suggests that the “MindSport” Programme may help young PICs discover and articulate positive aspects of their identities that had previously been obscured by their offending histories and internalized negative self-images.
Future Directions
The “MindSport” Programme represents a bold and promising step in translating desistance theory into structured, strength‑based psychological intervention integrated with sports activity within a custodial youth setting. Looking ahead, we aim to strengthen the evaluation framework by incorporating sport‑specific indicators and a matched comparison group, while also extending character strengths work into the family system through Character Strength Parenting. In a trial run of our Inmate-Parent Programme at STCI, parents were introduced to the concept of character strengths and invited to identify their child’s signature strengths through guided observation and discussion. Initial observations suggest that this process not only enables parents to view their children through a more affirming lens, but also reinforces young PICs’ emerging prosocial self‑images through validation from their most significant relationships. It is particularly meaningful in the Chinese cultural context where parental recognition carries considerable weight.
Additionally, recognising that female PICs present distinct developmental needs and responsivity styles, we are developing a female-responsive, strength‑based intervention that integrates CSI with expressive writing and art‑making activities as the experiential platform. Similar to “MindSport” Programme for young male PICs, these creative modalities provide an expressive and identity‑exploratory space for young female PICs to discover, enact, and narrate their character strengths.
Together, these extensions reflect our broader aspiration to develop strength‑based, youth‑responsive and gender-specific interventions tailored to the diverse needs of young PICs and firmly grounded in a desistance‑oriented approach to psychological rehabilitation that supports a thriving next generation.
Celia HO
Clinical Psychologist
Hong Kong Correctional Services
Dr. Yvonne LEE
Senior Clinical Psychologist
Hong Kong Correctional Services
Questions? Contact lee_yvonne_ks@csd.gov.hk
References
Bushway, S. D., & Paternoster, R. (2013). Desistance from crime: A review and ideas for moving forward. In C. L. Gibson & M. D. Krohn (Eds.), Handbook of life-course criminology: Emerging trends and directions for future research (pp. 213–231). Springer.
Hong Kong Correctional Services Department (HKCSD, 2025). Desistance from Crime of Chinese Persons-In-Custody in Hong Kong: A Literature Review and Qualitative Study (Research Report). Hong Kong Correctional Services Department.
Maruna, S. (2001). Making good: How ex-convicts reform and rebuild their lives. American Psychological Association.
McNeill, F. (2016). Desistance and criminal justice in Scotland. In A. Hucklesby & S. Lister (Eds.), Criminal justice and desistance from crime: European perspectives (pp. 85–104). Routledge.
Niemiec, R. M. (2018). Character strengths interventions: A field guide for practitioners. Hogrefe Publishing GmbH.
Newson, M., Peitz, L., Cunliffe, J., & Whitehouse, H. (2025). Sports‐Based Interventions Fostering Positive Identity Formation in Prison: Insights From the Twinning Project. Journal of Community & Applied Social Psychology, 35(4), e70125.
Peterson, C., & Seligman, M. E. P. (2004). Character strengths and virtues: A handbook and classification. American Psychological Association & Oxford University Press.
Schutte, N. S., & Malouff, J. M. (2019). The impact of signature character strengths interventions: A meta-analysis. Journal of Happiness Studies, 20(4), 1179–1196.
